I'm curious - what made those of you doing dance choose it? Was it something you wanted to do from the get-go? Did you just end up working on it because of practical reasons like age or injuries preventing jumping?

I've been wondering today. Heh. I guess because when I first fell in love with figure skating (Kwan vs Lipinski - that season leading up to Nagano, lol) I was mesmerized by the jumping and spinning and all of that, and never felt ice dance was as "good" as freestyle. I don't think that's true now, but I was quite blinded by glamour when I was a ten year old. Lol.

Anyways, now I'm thinking it might be something I would enjoy! Or I'd be terrible lol.

That's an interesting question... When I started skating, I didn't know much about dance (ok, make that "didn't know a thing about dance"). However, my club ice time was structured such that there would be a freestyle session, followed by a dance session.

At that time, I was doing group lessons that were on another day, and seldom attended freestyle sessions. However, the one time I did, I stayed behind and watched the dance, and was simply mesmerised by how the dance couples could skate so "together". The higher dances were even more intersting to watch. It was then that I knew I had to at least try it!

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Blog: http://chowskates.blogspot.com

Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/chowskates
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There was a dance interval in the public session after my group lessons. I've always felt uncoordinated and clumsy off-ice, and was starstruck by the elegance that the dancers had. One of the girls in my LTS group pointed out that even we could do the Novice Foxtrot to some degree - it snowballed from there!

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"Every revolutionary idea seems to evoke three stages of reaction. They may be summed up by the phrases:
(1) It's completely impossible.
(2) It's possible, but it's not worth doing.
(3) I said it was a good idea all along."
- Arthur C Clarke

I've told variations on this story before, but my son and I started in LTS classes in April 2004. I haven't had a TV since 1988 or so, so my memory of how skating worked in the Olympics was a little fuzzy, which is to say that I had little notion of the differences between the disciplines. Besides, *my* goal was to able to skate backwards. We ended up taking private lessons with a coach whose specialty was dance. As I recall this came about because the request for a recommendation was part of the same conversation in which my son was being sized up as a potential dance partner.

For me, from there, it was a straightforward matter of my coach being a dance coach and me being extremely apprehensive at the thought of jumping. So, when we got through the basic moves she started me on the Dutch Waltz. While that's not my favorite dance, I liked the feel of skating together. When I eventually needed a new coach, it made sense to continue, so I looked for another dance coach, and that's where I am today. Every time I think about learning something in the freestyle line, there's something in dance that needs more work so I haven't quite gotten to it yet.

Rob

I began dancing 12 years ago at 9 years old, about a year after I began skating. Initially, I hated dance! My arms hurt from holding them up, I hated the details of bringing my feet together between every stroke, swingroll, or progressive, and I was deathly afraid of tripping my partner, who was in his early-twenties (waaaay older than me). Embarassing, but I actually remember crawling off the ice when I was younger to avoid dance, hoping that my coach wouldn't see me...

Still, my coach forced me to dance and looking back, I'm so glad she made me. Along with synchro, dance has taught me so much about expression (arms, head, pointed toes, etc.), timing, precisness of body movement, and dramatically improved my power, extension, speed, flow, quickness, and edge quality, which was great back when I still tested MIF. (I passed my Senior MIF in 2005...) Dance has also helped a great deal with synchro, so if you're considering skating on a team someday, I highly recommend dancing, as most the girls on my team have passed at least their Pre-Silver dances with the majority near or completely done with their Golds.

Now I absolutely love dance! I think I really got interested in the beauty of it all after seeing Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto skate for the first time (back in 2004, I believe...). Like Tanith, I am fairly tall for skating (5'5), very skinny, and blessed with long legs that I must constantly focus on straightening (or else it can look...well, crappy. ) She was just so beautiful and made everything look so simple despite having the same body type as myself; I figured, "Hey, I can do that!" I also really admired her expression and the happy, carefree look she has when skating. She can go from a classy Priscilla Presley for their Elvis program (http://youtube.com/watch?v=2wG4s0sS1Wk) to a to a city-girl-gone-county for their Green Acres number (http://youtube.com/watch?v=o5pO919Z0b4) to a hip-hop dancer for their Sexyback exhbition number (http://youtube.com/watch?v=ACAwrceLa20). That's the versatility I want! That's when I started hitting dance hardcore. I've since passed 4 dances in 9 weeks and hope to wrap up the rest of my Pre-Golds/Golds by next summer!

I'm currently working on my Pre-Gold dances (I've got the Paso, Starlight, and Blues left to do...), and may have been further along, if not completely finished, had I not placed so much focus on finishing my MIF. (It was worth it though! ) I'd love to go on after my Golds to test some of my International dances, but we'll see! I'm even considering taking some of my free dances in the near future...

Definitely dance though. It's soooo worthwhile and an opportunity not to miss out on!

All the cool kids were doing it.

Which is only slightly facetious - all the adults at my rink do ice dance in addition to moves and freestyle, largely because of my coach, who is a former elite ice dancer and truly glorious to watch.

But even before I came to this rink, I considered it because I knew the first few dances were all forwards skating and I thought it might be fun to try. Little did I know it would become completely addicting and pretty much take over my life.

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3turn
The Great Skate Experiment

Torvill and Dean, 1984 Winter Olympics.

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American Waltz... Once, Twice, ???? ...

Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
A: 5 and counting...

My coach was a dancer when she competed, and in group lessons she taught us the the pattern and steps for the Dutch. I was already taking privates from her, and I was the only one in the entire group lesson who found it interesting! So I bugged her to teach me more, and am now working (with a different coach) on Silvers and Pre-Golds!

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"Without a struggle, there can be no progress" ~ Frederick Douglass

My first coach reckoned that adults didn't jump and spin, but did dance. Which was basically the prevailing ethos at my rink until that coach stopped being head coach! When you had finished the then learn-to-skate classes, you moved into "dance class" - there was no free-skate class option, although one later developed.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

When I first started skating as an older teenager right before college, I skated at the same rink as Kim Navarro. This was before she went off to other areas of the country to train, so I got to watch her practice her dance quite a bit. I always thought she was so graceful and looked so content and happy to be doing what she was doing.

I knew I wanted to try it someday, but then I went to college and got really poor (!!!) so I didn't skate for about 5 years. Then I got my job and just didn't think I had the time (excuses, excuses...) but still had it in the back of my mind as something I wanted to try. So about 6 months ago I finally got hooked up with an ice dance coach, and unfortunately it didn't work out with him (extreme personal conflict, nothing professional... he was a great coach), but I just had my first lesson with my new coach today. I like the fact that it makes you focus on things such as deep edges, good knee bend, etc that sometimes gets missed when you do only freestyle. How many times have we all seen that kid at the rink who can do a double flip, but can't stroke??!! I find it enjoyable plus extremely helpful to other aspects of my skating.

I started with freestyle and my coach was like "do you want to do dance??" ...at first I said no...but then she encouraged me to do it because she thought it would help me become a stronger skater (she was right!) and so I agreed to starting!

I started dance because my coach told me I had good carriage and timing (probably meant that my free skating sucked ) tbh I love the music and really enjoy the precision of the compulsary dances. It also brings on all the other aspects of my skating. I'm currently working on my very first freedance programme, which is exciting as I thought it was only freeskaters who had programmes, and never thought I would have one ever. Yes, it has alot to do with the fact that I dont really jump, YET, but also I just love all the different dance styles and rhythms.

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Level one Field Moves......PASSED 05.06.08
Level one Free dance.....PASSED 02.10.08

GOALS FOR 2009

• Level One Compulsary dances.......PASSED 19.02.09
• Level One Elements.....................PASSED 10.07.09
• Level Two Free dance.................PASSED 19.02.09
• Level One Free...........................
• Level Two compulsory dances.......

Loving it, Loving it, Loving it!!!!!

One of the things that keeps me dancing is the challenge of it. After all, a free skater can choose his or her music to suit their own taste and ability, but a dancer has to be able to do a waltz and a samba and a blues and a foxtrot and a tango all equally well!

I tease 2loop2loop that it is the harder discipline, but I'm not really joking - in many ways, it is.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

My coach said, "You need to learn dance." haha. She thinks that it helps teach correct posture, edges, toe pointing, etc. So, I started learning dance to help with my moves and freestyle.

I learned a couple dances when I was a teenager, but thought they were the most boring things ever. Now that I'm older, and I'm relearning them, I think they're quite fun and challenging

When I first met my coach she had asked me about doing dance, and I said 'I'm not ruling it out'. She started me into dance about 8 months after starting skating, and I got frustrated with it at times but am at the point now where I am SO glad I did it. It makes a world of difference in edges & control and also helps refine your presentation. Next month I am testing my first 2 prelim dances!

The synchro team I am joining is moving to the adult division and I have to test either my preliminary dances or bronze moves. Hence ice dancing.

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Happily defying the laws of physics when I skate...and not in a good way

If I could meet ole Axel Paulsen, I would kick him in the teeth

President and Founding member of the I hate Toe-Loops Club

Still a member, but trying to get out of the Pre-bronze peanut gallery.

Visit my skating journal

I skated when I was a kid in the '60's and my club (Detroit Skating Club) was really into dance - there were dance sessions almost every evening (mostly for the adult social dancers) and my parents both attended. So when one of the coaches (Bob Keys) started a kids class on a Wednesday evening, I took the class - I remember there were 4 of us, including one boy who skated pairs with his sister. I remember liking it and eventually I started private lessons with Mr. Keys. I also did freestyle and figures, but really wanted to do the dance sessions at night, although I never got to... it ws one of those things that my parents said I could always do when I was an adult as very few adults in those days did freestyle, although there were always a few...

I took lessons from Mr. Keys through my Bronze dances - back then a coach couldn't take you through the tests. I remember taking my Preliminaries with an adult skater and I don't remember who took me through the Ten Fox or Fiesta Tango, but I do remember that Tim Wood (who two years later became National Men's Champion, Olympic Silver Medalist and later World Champion (twice) took me through my Willow Waltz. Because Tim was a Gold level dancer I had to solo the Willow, which was scarey, but I still remember it all these years later.


I quit skating at 14 after failing my presilvers (had another coach by this time as Mr. Keys had left the Detroit area) and basically forgot the dances, although I did remember some of the step sequences. Fast forward to 1984

Yup, you got it, got inspired - I was in graduate school, though and didn't really have time to skate but started again soon after I graduated - it took me about 4 years to find the Boston dance community, but once I did, I have never looked back! Moved to Portland, OR in 1993 and continued enjoying dance and adding figures, moves and judging to my repertoire...

But yeah, dance.. love it!!

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Is Portland the only city with it's own ice-dance website? http://www.pdxicedance.net/

I am a newbie (been in Skate UK for the last 10 months), but am being encouraged to do ice dance.

This I think is mostly due to my past ballet training - apparently my arms and posture are already graceful, which should give me an advantage! The footwork is another matter though

I am "graduating" from group lessons to private lessons next week (and seriously excited about this ) and hoping to start competitions next year - maybe Bracknell as my first one.

Although I really want to focus on the ice dancing, I also really want to do some freestyle as well as I would like to do some spins and jumps and stuff. I know I will enjoy the dancing - however my freestyle abilities have not been tested yet, so will have to see how it goes! Whereas I may have a small advantage in dance, freestyle really will be a learning curve from the word go!!

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Amanda

"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance . . . "

My Skating Journal